Oh, Tyler

Sometimes we have no other words. All there is to say in response to the things he says and does is, "Oh, Tyler." He happens to think that's hilarious. And runs around the house repeating it. So we often see him laughing, shaking his head, and saying, "Oh, Tyler."

This is just one of his new daily adventures. Carl got a pull-up bar for his birthday. I'm not sure which one of them loves it more.

Now Tyler hangs off anything and everything he possibly can. He pulls out drawers just to hang off of them. He holds onto the table and dangles his feet. Literally anything that's short enough to reach and tall enough for him to swing from. For the record, we don't let him hang and swing from drawers. But he tries constantly.

It is hard for me to believe that in less than two short weeks, my baby will be TWO years old! He is very excited about his birthday. He has been talking about cake and balloons and singing Happy Birthday for awhile now. All in one day I signed Tyler up for his first swimming lessons, his last baby story time, scheduled his two year doctor appointment and started planning his second birthday party! How crazy is that?!

And speaking of swimming lessons, he absolutely loved it the first time. The second time, not so much. He started saying, "Done," about three minutes in. And he did what he was supposed to, but grudgingly and half-heartedly. He would just barely, or not quite do what they said, and then say, "Almost." A couple hours later he had a fever and it ended up being from a double ear infection. So I'm less offended now that he liked it when Daddy took him and hated it when I took him. And thankfully, he's finally feeling much better today!

Here is what else the little guy has been up to lately.

I feel like in the past few weeks he has grown up soooo much! Really, it seemed like it happened overnight. He just woke up one day and could play and interact so much more like a two year old. He's become much more conversational and his speech has suddenly become a lot clearer.  He is pretending and teasing and continually says things that make us laugh.

Favorite Words to Say:
almost, nope and holy cow! In fact, sometimes he does ridiculous things just so he has a reason to shout, "Holy cow!"

Great Quotes:
Tyler bumped his foot on something and immediately sat down, took his sock off and kissed his own foot.
Me: "Did you kiss it all better all by yourself? You didn't even need me to kiss it?"
Tyler: "Almost." Then he walked over and put his foot in my face to kiss it too.

Tyler was rubbing his eyes at lunch.
Me: "Are you getting tired?"
Tyler: "Nope. Eyes. Itchy. Poor me." (In his very saddest voice)

On our way to our friends, Jesse and Andrea's house last week we were telling him he would also see Ross and Megan and their baby, Amos. He spent the whole car ride telling us that Amos would be crying. We told him sometimes babies are happy. Everytime we asked if he thought maybe Amos would be happy, he said, "Nope!" He also told us multiple times that Jesse and Andrea need to obey.

Signs That Tyler Thinks He Is Invisible:
- He very much believes that if his eyes are shut, no one can see him. So when he wants to do something he knows he shouldn't, he closes or covers his eyes and sneaks very slowly to whatever it is that he wants to do. Most commonly it's when he finds a pacifier. He knows they are only for bed time. Keeping his eyes shut the whole time, he will slowly and sneakily reach down, pick it up, put it in his mouth and stand there sucking on it.

Signs That Tyler Needs a Sibling:
- He plays Ring-Around-The-Rosie by himself
- He throws balls at doors so that they will bounce back and "chase" him and then runs away giggling to hide behind one of us.
- He talks to his stuffed animals

Signs That He Doesn't Quite Agree That He Needs a Sibling:
- When I held our friend's newborn baby, Tyler sat there repeating, "No, no, no, baby. Go home. No baby," over and over again.
- Tyler is moving to a new room. When we showed him his new blankets he started saying, "No blankets, no bed," and shoving them back in the box as fast as he could.
-He tells us often that he is the baby and asks to be held like a baby.

Signs That Tyler Will Be a Great Big Brother:
- He is the sweetest, most loving little boy in the world.
- He's already practicing changing diapers. (During nap time. When he should be sleeping.)

Signs That Tyler is a Little Confused About the Baby:
- I asked Tyler if he wanted to feel the baby kick. He looked at me in great confusion, slowly stood up, and gently kicked my stomach. He does this every time I ask, so I have to be careful to ask if he wants to feel it move, not kick.
- When he did feel the baby move, he jumped up and ran across the room in shock and didn't want to come anywhere near me for a few minutes.

It's really hard to know how much he understands about all of this. It's pretty clear that he knows things are changing. And he can tell us all about what is going to happen. He can even tell us that Mommy will go to the hospital when the baby is born. But I know he has no clue how much his little life will change when the baby comes home!

Here are a few more pictures, just because.

Tyler loves sitting in front of fire places. He made himself right at home at the zoo last week!

This is my Tyler. Happy, silly and full of spunk. :-)